


Our Rose Colored Days

by ferric



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: AU, Crack, Drabble, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-03
Updated: 2015-08-28
Packaged: 2017-12-25 11:55:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 15,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/952774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ferric/pseuds/ferric
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of Ereri drabbles: Crack, AU, canon..etc...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Model AU

There was a flash of light, and then Eren saw him. 

Eren couldn’t help but trail his eyes from that sharp face to the broad shoulders, down the smooth tanned chest to the chiseled abs, and then Eren’s eyes rested on that hip, half hidden by a tangle of satin sheets, and Eren swallowed heavily. The pose left a lot to the imagination, and Eren found himself thinking about what was underneath the sheets, what if, as he pulled them away slowly, there would be a smirk on that face, and those dark eyes would fixed on him and only him, and then when it was all stripped away, Eren would say, “You didn’t wear any underwear?” and that smirk would widen, “Only for you—-

"He’s pretty good right?" Hanji’s words startled Eren from his thoughts, and he flushed as she gave him a knowing look, and when Eren looked back to that model, brilliant in the flashing camera lights, he had to agree. 

Eren clenched his fists, and Hanji wasn’t surprised in the least when he said, “I accept your offer to join this agency.”


	2. Sport Anime AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sport Anime.

Levi crossed his arms and eyed the kid in front of him critically. Before he could voice his rejection, the kid spoke, “I know what you’re thinking, but I know I can do it—just—please just give me a trial—I—I’ve seen your jump at the Interhigh and I know I have the ability to catch up with you.”

"No," Levi sighed as he turned to leave, but then Eren moved, and Levi didn’t quite catch what he did, but one second, Eren was a few feet away from him, but now he was right in front of Levi, so close that Levi could feel Eren’s breaths brushing against his face as he spoke, “Please take me seriously!”

"Not bad," Levi said, thinking of Eren’s very fast reflexes. He grabbed the collar of Eren’s shirt and yanked him so close that Eren’s eyes were only an inch from his, as he said, “Let’s see if you can keep your word at practice tomorrow."

Eren licked his lips and nodded hastily.


	3. Bounty Hunter AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bounty Hunter AU

Levi was going to kill Irvin after this because with all the detailed information on Grisha Jaeger, Irvin would think to include some very important things like the fact that, in the time he went into hiding, Grisha had pulled an innocent woman into marriage with him. Carla Jaeger hadn’t done anything to warrant her death, unlike her bastard of a husband, but Levi didn’t have a choice.

Levi took off the silencer, holstered his gun, and was about to make some calls to Hanji and her team for the clean-up, when a sudden noise from the closet started him. 

There was no pictures in the house, no toys to indicate that a small boy had lived here, but Levi had spotted a small T-shirt that could only be worn by a kid, and Levi bet that if he went into that guest bedroom and looked in the drawers, he would find children’s clothing hidden underneath all the adult clothes.

Levi had a good idea what was in that closet and whose eyes were peeking through the little crack, probably glaring at him right now with hate, and Levi remembered when he had done the same, staring with shock and fear at the man who murdered his parents in cold-blood.

It was proof of how cruel Levi had become, or perhaps he was just tired of his empty and bloody life, when he turned to the small crack of the closet to say, “When you grow to be less pathetic than you are right now, come after me if you can, you little shit.”


	4. Police AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Police AU

The suspect was very fast with his escape, but not fast enough because Levi got a hold of him, pinned him down on his stomach, and got the cuffs snapped around his wrists. "You are under arrest - you have the right to remain silent - anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." 

Levi pulled the suspect onto his feet. Irvin was, of course, very behind, and Levi was going to make a crack about him getting a beer belly later, but for now, he was content in keeping an eye on one Eren Jaeger, arrested for—wait a minute—-

"Why the fuck are you hard?"

"You were on top of me," Eren cried, face flushing red, “And you’re so close to me right now, and..you smell good.." and fuck, Levi was starting to notice how green this brat’s eyes were, and well, he didn’t smell too bad himself, and fuck, this train of thoughts was probably going to cost him his job.


	5. Pre-school AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pre-school AU

It was one of _those_ Mondays again, Petra sighed internally as she tossed the bloody cotton into the trash. Eren had gotten into a fight with Jean, _again_ , and they had both gotten hurt, _again_ , and Petra was going to have to stay late today to talk to their parents, _again._

Luckily the boys didn’t get hurt too badly, a little bandage and they would be fine. Petra was about to get up to get the small bandages in the cabinet because Auruo had forgotten to stock the first aid kits with them, again, but she saw that Eren was holding a few in his hand, and so she asked, “Eren, may I ask for those bandages? We’ll patch both of you up, and you two could return to coloring right away!”

"No!" Eren shouted as he clutched the baby blue bandages in his hands, “Levi gave me these; I don’t want to waste them!"

"Ohhhh," Jean said, in a tone that Petra knew was going to cause trouble, “Eren and Levi, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i—" and before Petra could stop him, Eren had jumped off his chair to punch Jean, his face flushing with embarrassment, and Petra was partially annoyed and partially amused because that was kind of cute.


	6. Demon and Angel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Demon!Levi/Angel!Eren

Perhaps Mikasa was human, but she held her own grounds well, and she knew that whatever Levi was going to do would hurt Eren—Eren would never be able to return to heaven again—and she wasn’t going to stand for it. 

Levi must have read her thoughts because he calmly said, “If I don’t do this, we will never be able to see him again. Are you okay with that?”

Mikasa looked away, and Levi took that as an answer as he cut his wrist with one of his claws, black blood seeping from the wound, and placed it to Eren’s lips. Eren was still unconscious; his powers had been draining ever since he was sent to the human world as a punishment, and Levi thought of Eren’s stubborn expression as he defended his God, _"He had not abandoned me. I needed this discipline,"_ and Levi hissed angrily at the memory, _“Where is your God now?”_

The black blood slipped inside Eren’s mouth on its own, dark with Levi’s sins and Levi’s desires and Levi’s will, and Eren opened his eyes slowly, eyes that were no longer Eren’s, whispering _"Levi"_ in a voice that was no longer familiar, his once pure white wings slowly bled into the color of Levi’s blood.


	7. Doctor AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doctor AU

Levi crossed his arms and tried to smooth out the confusion in his expression, but judging from Eren’s face, it wasn’t working.

Eren’s face was turning into a very interesting shade of red, so interesting that if Hanji was here, she would ooh and ahhh and took Eren with her for testing and changed her dissertation to “Different Shades of Red on Faces of People Acquainted With Levi As Correlated With Levi’s Degree of Annoyance.” 

Levi wasn’t really annoyed right now, just curious because Eren Jaeger was a patient that always came in for a check up even though there was absolutely nothing wrong with him, and every week, without fail, he would come in describing symptoms of diseases that 0.001% of the population in the world contracted, and at first it was annoying, but now, Levi just resigned himself to the fact that Eren Jaeger was one weird cookie.

"Could you please repeat that?" Levi asked, and he jerked as Eren grabbed his hand and placed it on Eren’s suddenly very bare chest, wait, when the hell did Eren take his shirt off? 

"I think you need to examine me a bit more closely," Eren said, slowly sliding Levi’s hand down his body to the waistband of his pants, and Levi was more interested in the smooth skin that came in contact with his hand than he should, and suddenly, Eren’s strange behaviors all clicked in his head. 

"No," Levi said, pulling his hand away, and Eren’s face fell, but before Eren could say another word, Levi continued,"but I can offer you personal home visits." 

"I can live with that."


	8. Wings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wing AU

Eren gently ran his hand over the scars on Levi’s back, marveling at the intricacy.

"My parents said The Lord carved that on my back,” Levi scoffed, thinking of the religious cult that his parents had foolishly believed in and were ultimately betrayed by.

"Can I see them?" Eren asked, and for a moment, Eren thought he was going to say no, but Levi took a deep breath, and then, underneath his fingers, Eren could feel the scars began to move, rough ridges pulling free from Levi’s back as they lengthened, feathers growing from them like leaves from branches, gleaming white and bright even in the dim firelight.

Eren had to scoot back quickly to get out of their way because they were so massive.

"What?" Levi barked, his back to Eren and his head slightly tilted down to the ground, as if he was expecting Eren to spurn him, and Eren wondered if someone important had once rejected Levi because of this, because of something that he couldn’t control.

"Nothing," Eren traced his fingers over the soft feathers, thinking that, in this moment, Levi looked just like he did back then when he flew through the air with his invisible wings, blades flashing against the sunlight, like an angel of freedom.

 


	9. Wings (part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wing AU

Every time it rained, Levi’s wing-like scars began to hurt. They were heading out to a mission again tomorrow, and the pain on his back served as a bad omen, even though Levi had repeated to himself time and time again that he no longer believed in the religion that abandoned him.

"Have they always been this way?" Eren asked as he massaged Levi’s back, and Levi looked at the mirror across the room, the image of himself slowly changed back into the Levi that wasn’t yet a Corporal, the same Levi that had sat here just like this the day before another mission years ago, with another boy whose bright smile he had never forgotten over time, and that boy had looked at Levi’s wings with wonder and said, "I can always count on you," and at the time Levi was foolish enough to believe those words, until the boy’s remains returned in front of his eyes, and the wings on Levi’s back began to burn.

It had rained that day.

"No," Levi said, the pain on his back becoming more intense as he thought about how each time someone died believing that he could save them, another feather grew on his wings, as if it was a punishment from the God he no longer believed in, and Levi spoke before he could stop himself, “If you have any illusions that I’m some sort of angel who watches over you, you better stop now."

Levi shivered as Eren slumped against his back, Eren’s arms a comforting weight on his hip as he said, “Of course not; I’ll take care of myself,” and somehow, the pain on Levi’s back muted into a light throb, as if Levi was no longer alone in bearing the weight on his back.

 


	10. Mermaid AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mermaid AU

Levi followed Irvin down the cave as Irvin explained to him, tiny blue lights glowing in their path, “If we can get the humans to let go of the territory in the east, we’ll be fine for the season once the cold current comes in.”

"And you think they’ll give it up in return for this brat," Levi said as they ventured in deeper, swimming past a curtain of seaweeds, and it was so dark that Levi could barely made out the faint shape of Irvin’s tail.

"In return for their prince,” Irvin corrected, and then there was a small golden light in front of him, bright enough that Levi could see Irvin’s tail gleaming with sapphire as he spoke, “You’ll have to watch him, since he is, in a sense, our guest.”

"More like your prisoner," an angry voice shouted out as the light opened up to a large room with floating seaweed curtains and glittering crystals that shined bright patterns on the walls, shimmering as if the surface of the sea was painted there, and Levi was already annoyed that he had to babysit a royal nuisance.

Levi glared at the boy, currently standing inside the bubble cell that Irvin had prepared for him, all furious eyes; his clenched fists against the glass-like wall were an angry red as if he had been pounding for hours against the bubble confinement (uselessly, Levi would add).

As he rest his eyes on Levi, however, the fury in his gaze shifted into something else entirely, something that matched the interest in Levi’s gaze, and Levi was too busy noting that Eren’s eyes resembled the sea during springtime to hear Irvin saying, “This is Eren Jaeger, prince of Shiganshina.”

 


	11. Vampire Married Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vampire Married Life

The problem with being together for so long, as Eren later found out, was that even though he grew tired of Levi’s shit, he couldn’t exactly leave because, you know, they were married, and thus Eren was shackled with responsibility of taking every annoying trait of Levi in stride (he had thought they were cute when he first met Levi;  _what the hell was he thinking?_ ) and thanks to Levi being a vampire, married for life became much longer than Eren had expected (fuck those ‘I’d be with you forever’ songs because clearly they didn’t know that Eren had to clean Levi’s entire castle for eternity).

“Couldn’t we just move to a smaller house? Or a mobile home, you’re getting old? An apartment?” Eren said one evening as they headed to bed, dreaming of the possibility of much less cleaning in his life, and then, when Levi hesitated to take his blood again, Eren sighed, “I cleaned my neck three times, alright?”

“I like this castle; it’s our first home; I thought you like it,” Levi said, “and your neck is still not clean enough because I could still—” but he paused, and Eren slumped back into bed, “Yeah, that was before I knew that holy matrimony meant that I had to clean this fucking castle every day of my life; and by now, shouldn’t you be accepting of the fact that I sweat more than the average male because we’ve been married for a long time?”

“We’re not moving because I like this place and our neighbors are nice,” Levi said, and Eren resisted the urge to point out that he didn’t share the same opinion because whenever those werewolves decided that they wanted to have an orgy loudly, it was always when Levi was out of town, and Eren swore that they had wanted him to die from extreme horniness, “and besides, your smell is…distracting.”

“I know; you get more turned on when you could smell my disgusting scent,” and Eren grabbed Levi by his cravat and pulled him down for a kiss, “I swear the only reason why you are so obsessed with cleaning is because you have a dirt kink.”

“Shut up, brat,” said Levi, and Eren was glad that he cleaned his neck only three times instead of five because he could feel something hard poking his thigh, and this was going to be one fantastic evening.

 


	12. Dancing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> College!Levi coming home to his boyfriend.

Everyone assumed that Eren was definitely going to prom with Mikasa, but when Mikasa showed up to prom in a matching three-piece suit with Sasha Braus, everyone suddenly turned to Eren, asking Eren what the hell he did for Mikasa to dump him (Jean was especially annoying about this) even though they never went out in the first place.

Eren decided to go to prom solo because he was on the prom committee and thus was too busy to do anything but running around to make sure things were in place; when he finally had time for himself, prom was over, and he had to deal with clean up; it was 2 AM before he finished up with everything, and by the time he dragged himself to the parking lot for his car, he was tempted to just sleep in the car until he was in the right mind for driving.

Eren was surprised however, when he got to his car and saw lines of candles looping around his car and lining on the hood, and, glowing softy in the dim golden light, was a familiar figure leaning against the back of his car, waiting.

"I thought you were still at uni," Eren said as Levi detached himself from Eren’s car and went to wrapped his arms around Eren’s waist, and then, remembering the candles, Eren added, “Are those safe?"

"LED lights, don’t worry," Levi said as he pulled out headphones from his pocket and put a bud in Eren’s ear and the other in his, and Eren smiled as the familiar song drifted gently in between them, “You remember our song," Eren rested his head on top of Levi’s, his arms around Levi’s shoulder’s as they sway along to the music from the days Levi was still in town, and they had sat cross-legged in Levi’s room, the sweltering summer heat clung to their skin as Eren placed open-mouth kisses on Levi’s bare chest, and Levi had pulled Eren up to meet his lips; Levi smelled the same as he did back in those days, and Eren remembered how much he had missed him.

"Welcome back," Eren said, just as the lyrics  _"We belong together"_  came by, and Levi whispered, “I’ve missed you too,” as he leaned up to pull Eren into a familiar kiss.

 


	13. Writer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Writer!Levi met his biggest fan.

Levi had been avoiding calls from his agent for the past week, and it wasn’t because he hated the idea of a movie based on his novel series, but because the artistic liberty they had presented to him at the last meeting had completely shut down his hope of a close rendition of his novels, so now Levi was casually sipping tea in an old coffee shop down the street while the summer sun gently stroke his face, comfortably relaxing against the couch, noting the amusing sign on the wall across from him, “If you’re not shaking, you haven’t had enough.”

Levi was about to go for a second cup when someone blocked his path and said, “Excuse me; are you Levi by any chance?”

Levi glanced up to meet a pair of eager green eyes—a young man that he had never met before, but his presence felt familiar; Levi looked at the first novel of his series in the stranger’s hand and had a strange thought that he had been waiting for this moment ever since he had taken out the hotel writing pad from the drawer, ideas flashing in his mind one late night on a business trip, and on that paper, his pen moved by memories so distant that he wasn’t sure if they were real or imaginary, the words  _“Attack on Titans”_  danced from his vision onto the paper.

“May I have your autograph?” the stranger asked, and Levi numbly took the book and the pen from him, asking, “Who should I make this to?”

“Eren Jaeger,” Eren said, and Levi looked up at him in shock, thinking how the main character of his novel series had the same name, and that sense of familiarity returned again as he said, “Seriously?”

“It’s the same spelling too,” Eren said, and Levi wondered why the smile was familiar to him as Eren continued in a rush, his face an interesting shade of red, “I’m actually auditioning for that role because, yeah, I’m a giant fan of your series; I guess I can really relate to the main character so your series has been a great inspiration, and I just want your autograph for good luck,” and then Levi was tempted to reach out for that hand when he had failed to do so a long time ago, when he had lost that person, and the memory was making his head dizzy with regret and grief for that name as he whispered, “I’m sure there would be no one more suited for that role,  _Eren._ ”

 


	14. Pizzaman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Based on hanaisnotcool's comment: "What if the scouting legion is low on funds and in order to repay debts Erwin starts an amateur porn company using the soldiers and the most popular video is of pizza guy! Levi and babysitter!Eren. I would watch that."

"I like my pizza-man as I like my pizza," said Eren flatly. "Hot."

"CUT!"

"What is it now, Erwin?" Levi said irritably. This was the fifth retake, and he was tired of standing there for hours with an erection that needed to be taken care of, just because Erwin couldn’t stop fixing every little detail.

"Eren, you have to give it more emotions," said Erwin, ignoring Levi.

"So.." Eren looked confused. "Okay, never mind, I’ll get it this time, Commander."

"Alright! Good man. Three, two, one, action!"

"I like my pizza-man," Eren began, his head hung low, and Levi could hear the "cut" from Erwin coming soon, except before that happened, Eren snapped his head to look at Levi with that same deranged gaze he had given to Levi back at the dungeon, when he said he would kill all Titans, "as I like my pizza. HOT!"

"CUT!"

"Again?" Levi sighed. Clearly, Eren was not made for acting.

"Eren, you can’t look as if you are going to bite Levi’s penis off."

"But Commander, you said you wanted emotions…"

"Okay," Erwin said. "We’ll get this scene later. Let’s just get to the sex scene."

"Finally!" Levi said irritably, approaching the bed as the camera crew re-positioned for the scene. Levi honestly thought he was going to go limp every time Erwin said ‘cut,’ but as he looked at Eren’s playful eyes, he wondered if Eren did that on purpose.

"You little shit," Levi mumbled, and Eren’s grin became wider as Levi pulled him up for a kiss.

"Wait, Levi, I haven’t said ‘action’ yet."

But Eren’s hands were already fumbling with Levi’s pants, and Levi grabbed the back of Eren’s neck, pulling him in to deepen the kiss, and he could hear Erwin shouting at them to stop in the background, but he didn’t give a shit because Eren’s hands were slipping inside his pants, and Levi jerked as Eren gave him a squeeze.

"Cut!" Erwin shouted, but it was too late because Levi pushed Eren into the bed and began to unbutton his shirt.

"I’m going to make you pay for making me wait."

"CUT! CUT!"

 


	15. Spy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi was a spy who pretended to love Eren in order to kill his father.

"You betrayed me," Eren said, sitting on the chair across from Levi, watching with cold eyes as Levi stopped struggling against the metal chains that restrained him against the wall, and Levi was painfully reminded of the reason why Hanji had advised that he killed Eren as well as Grisha, because the Jaeger Corporation was too powerful, but Levi couldn’t do it; he was fine living with the fact that Eren would hate him forever rather than Eren leaving this world completely.

Levi realized that he had fallen too deep, and now he was going to pay the price.

Eren rose from the chair, and Levi watched with cautiously as Eren approached him with slow steps. Levi hissed in pain as Eren yanked him up by his hair, and when Levi opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Eren’s pained expression, and he tried to look away but Eren tightened the grip on his hair to prevent him from escaping.

"You were going to abandon me," Eren whispered angrily, and Levi swallowed heavily as Eren dug nails into his scalp, Eren’s hot breath burned as it brushed against his face.

"But I won’t let you leave me, ever," Eren said, using his other hand to stroke Levi’s face, a cold smile hanging on his lip as he said, "I’ll make you pay for killing my father, of course, and I’ll make you regret that you’ve ever thought of leaving me," and then Eren yanked him into a bruising kiss, biting Levi’s lips until they bled, a bloody promise sneaking around Levi’s neck, heavy like a leash.

 


	16. Proposing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren proposed to Levi in his own way.

Spring came early this year, and Levi had woken up early one morning when the sky was still a dusty gray to stand on the front porch, thinking about planting early, maybe starting next week when Hanji would visit so he could rope her into helping. The wind picked up, and Levi shivered as the left-over chills of winter’s end numbed his old battle wounds; his shoulder hurt as if he could still feel the blinding pain as his right arm was taken from him.

A warm body slumped against him, and then two pair of arms wrapped around his waist, and then the chill didn’t feel so cold anymore, and the memory of losing his arm faded away as Eren whispered softly into his ear, “Good morning.”

Levi didn’t answer him, and they stood there together, silently watching another sunrise, another day coming, and that was more than Levi could have asked for back when they were still soldiers; but gone were the bloody days, gone were the flashing blades, gone were the titans, gone were their uniform, gone was Levi’s arm, a small price that he had paid for Eren’s life, and Eren kissed his shoulder, kissed where his arm should be, and said, “I’m sorry.”

Levi remained silent as the wind picked up again, and the spring flowers peeking from the field in front of them danced, and he said, “I don’t regret it, not one bit.”

Levi was surprised when Eren pulled away from him then, and he watched numbly as Eren moved to stand in front of him, taking Levi’s hand to put it on the left side of his chest and said, “I don’t have anything left to offer you, nothing but my family name,” and Levi felt something burning the back of his eyes, like the first time that Eren had asked if he could come along with Levi, that he would go wherever Levi went, and it didn’t have to be the ocean or the burning sea of fire or the rising towers of ice, and Levi had kissed him as an answer back then, and he was going to do the same now because Eren didn’t have to offer his family name to Levi for Levi to know that they were already one, but he would forever keep it within his heart as a reminder that home had always been with Eren.

 


	17. Awkward First Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Awkward sex.

Levi could see that Eren was trying his best to keep a straight face as Levi blinked once, twice, thrice, and then Levi said, “This is made out of what?”

"Cow intestine," said Eren.

There was a moment of silence. Eren rubbed his bare shoulders while he waited for Levi’s response. Levi knew that Eren was hoping that Levi would hurry it up. They were both naked, and even though Levi was humanity’s strongest, Eren wasn’t, and Eren was very much susceptible to the chill of the dungeon.

The condom was laid out in between them. Levi stared at it.

"I’m not putting that on my dick," said Levi at last.

"Does that mean I’m on top tonight?" Eren asked, suddenly not so chilled anymore.

Levi made a face at that. He looked at the condom again, probably contemplating his limited life choices right now.

"This can’t be cow intestine. We don’t even have enough cows to eat, let alone to make…this."

Eren stared at the condom of dubious origin. “What do you think it is then, Corporal?”

Levi suddenly wished that he didn’t have a strong imagination as he did right now because there were a few things that he could think of, and none of those things would be what he wanted to look at, let alone put on his dick. They brought back not-so-sparkling-clean memories of when he was a rogue—that was how bad they were.

Levi gave the condom one last look before turning to Eren. “Go find another—what are you doing?” Levi stared at Eren in shock as Eren continued to stroke his own cock, face flushed as he panted, “Well—you—you weren’t going to do anything—so I—I” Levi watched, mesmerized as one, two, and then three of Eren’s fingers sank inside his body, and then Levi’s throat went dry as Eren moaned,  _“Corporal,"_  and Levi’s mind went blank.

And then Eren let out a whine. Levi’s body tingled at the sound, a shudder ran from his shoulder through his entire body to his cock, and suddenly he snapped awake from the trance Eren place him under and moved toward Eren. “You brat, you can’t just enjoy yourself without me!”

"Wait, Corporal! Don’t touch there!"

And just as Levi placed his hand on Eren’s cock, a flash of something clear white and hot splashed on his face.

Eren stared at Levi with horror and with a little bit too much interest. He licked his lips as he looked at Levi, probably thinking of disgusting things as his cum began to run down Levi’s chin. “Corporal, I’m so sorry.”

Levi was silent at first, and Eren waited nervously. Then:

"Get on your knees, Eren. Now."

 


	18. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skusil: "Levi's in a gang and is maybe a reforming drug addict (like he's trying to quit/quitting) and he's trying really hard to keep Eren away from everything but it's hard because Eren's an idiot and they're in love with each other."

2 AM. Gets back to the apartment. Lights sputter a few times. Then they flick on.  _Good._

A heavy sigh comes from living room. Dark hair, angry green eyes. Eren. Cross-arms. Oh that means trouble. No Levi, why did you go out so late? Did you go with those bad men again? No. Bad Levi. Sit. Kneel. Fetch, Levi, fetch. Eat. Listen to me. Why won’t you listen?

_Shut up._

Tries to take shoes off.  _Fuck._  Forgets that he fucked up his right arm. Eren hisses. See what I mean? One of these days you’ll be killed.

Eren looks taken aback.  _Good._

Levi is broken, and he isn’t broken. He wants to be fixed, and he doesn’t want to be fixed.

Eren tries to check on his arm but he jerks away.  _Fuck off._  He isn’t a fucking charity case. Not a broken doll waiting to be put together.  _Fuck off._

Eren’s face.  _No. Don’t look like that._  Quickly, turn away. Look, the wall needs fixing. The plumbing could use some work. Maybe he’ll repaint the walls, he needs to take out the trash, maybe—stop. Eren. Stop. Don’t look like that.

I wish you could trust me, Eren says. And there it it.  _Trust._

An anchor ties around his throat. Drops it in the ocean. Levi is sinking, sinking deep. Trust. Communication.  _Bullshit._  He doesn’t want to talk about it.

If only you would let me help you, says Eren. You have to try.

_I’m trying okay? Fuck off. Go away. You don’t mean ‘try.’ You mean succeed. Those are not the same thing._

Sitting in a street corner. That’s what it feels like. Hands out. Help me. Being ignored. Looks of pity. Hands in. Face burns with embarrassment. Sorry for being a fucked up piece of shit. Sorry for making you feel bad about yourself for not being able to help me. Fuck off and leave me alone.

_No, you want to see me succeed. You don’t want to see me try. Because if I try and fail, you’ll feel bad. Fuck that._

But Eren touches the injured arm gently. Let’s get you to a doctor. Patient. Kind. I’ll wait for you. Don’t say that. I love you. No, go away. Don’t love something like me.

I’ll still be here no matter what happens, Eren says.

_No. Go away. You’ll be hurt. I will fail and then I will return one day to you in a daze so heavy I won’t even remember your name. Maybe there will be mercy and I will return to you in a body bag. You will be disappointed. Leave._

But Eren’s hands are gentle and kind, and Levi has never wanted to succeed so badly in his life.

 


	19. Drunk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drunk!Eren.

Levi, at the young age of…a very small number, was wrongly accused of being a boring old geezer when he decided to be the designated babysitter of a group of supposed adults and one supposed young adult who were drinking until they puked their hearts out. It wasn’t because he couldn’t handle alcohol,  _be quiet, Hanji,_ but because there was no way he would put that overpriced horse piss in his mouth. Also, considering that one of the creepers at the tavern was making weird eyes at him all evening, Levi would like to be 100% ready to break his neck in if he tried anything.

This also meant, however, that Levi had the pleasure of holding Eren up as Eren emptied the content of his stomach onto Levi’s newly polished boots. Lovely. Eren was going to have a sexy date with his boots tomorrow morning, preferably when his head was still pounding with hangover. Yes, that would do. He had already taken off his boots for Eren to get to it in the morning.

Being the designated babysitter, which admittedly wasn’t so different from his regular job aside from the remnants of Eren’s dinner on his boots, also meant that he had to wipe Eren’s face clean, take Eren’s boots off, and tuck him into bed. Maybe he wouldn’t sleep in bed with Eren tonight. Eren’s breath was gross.

What wasn’t included in his job description, however, was dealing with a hansy Eren.

"No," Levi smacked Eren’s hand away when Eren attempted to make another pass at the belt of Levi’s pants. "Lie down. Sleep."

"But Corporal—" Eren whined, tugging at Levi’s hand now.

"But nothing. Go to sleep."

"But I’m hard." Eren pulled Levi’s hand to the bulge between his legs to demonstrate his point, and Levi jerked his hand away because no, this was not the time for this.

"Deal with it yourself," Levi said, trying not to sound interested even though he kind of was. Eren was making passes at him the whole evening at the tavern, in a public place for fuck’s sake, and Levi had been trying to slap Eren’s hand away and not get hard while a hundred eyes were around. The struggle was real.

But now Eren was flushed red with need and writhing on the bed while he whined about wanting Levi to touch him, and it was tempting, but more importantly Eren was drunk, and also his mouth was disgusting, and no, little Levi was going to have to wait until tomorrow. (Last time when they tried to do things while drunk was the last time that Levi wanted to try anything while drunk, no matter how much fun Eren thought it was.)

Of course, Eren had to execute his infuriating ability to squash Levi’s plans now because he yanked Levi onto the bed with a surprising amount of strength. Eren pulled Levi on top of him and slotted their mouths together in a sloppy kiss. Levi tried to pull free because Eren’s mouth was disgusting, but Eren’s grip on the back of his neck was firm, and then, Eren slid his thigh in between Levi’s leg and rubbed against his crotch, and Levi groaned against Eren’s lips.  _Well, forget it,_ Levi thought as he slipped his hands underneath Eren’s shirt, fingers running desperately over Eren’s overheated skin as he took over the kiss, completely forgetting that Eren’s mouth was gross.

Levi ground his hip against Eren, and Eren jerked so much from the bed that Levi had to push him down until Eren’s arching back hit the bed once more, his hands firm on Eren’s body. Levi broke the kiss and began to trail his tongue down Eren’s sensitive neck, feeling Eren’s shivering under his touch, and that only spurned him on further to nibble at Eren’s skin, earning a delicious moan from Eren.

"Corporal,  _please._ ”

Levi of course could only comply to Eren’s request.

However, Eren wouldn’t be Eren if he didn’t try to sabotage Levi’s plan, intentionally or not, because before Levi could undo the buttons on Eren’s pants, Eren had grabbed Levi by the shoulders and flipped them over.

"Wait, Eren—" But Levi didn’t have a chance to protest before Eren began to rut his hip against Levi. "Corporal—" Eren sighed as he blindly ground his body against Levi, his face flushed red with want and alcohol and fuck knew what else, and Levi knew this was going to end terribly but he couldn’t stop his hip from responding to Eren’s pace, his senses was filled with nothing but the sound of Eren panting heavily above him and the smell of warm sweat in between them.

"I want you so badly," Levi whispered, and normally, he would never admit this to Eren’s face, but Eren only had half of his brain power right now. Levi pulled Eren into another kiss before Eren could respond to his words.

"Corporal," Eren breathed against his lips as they pulled apart. "Corporal, I can’t wait."

"Wait, Eren—" Levi began, but Eren was an impatient little shit because he began rutting against Levi again, faster this time, before Levi could work his hand undoing Eren’s pants. "Eren, wait!" But Eren didn’t seem to hear him as he sped up, rubbing his erection desperately against Levi, chanting "More, Corporal, I want more," and fuck, Levi was trying not to come right now, but the friction was so good, and the heat was burning him from inside out, and if Eren stopped right now, Levi thought he was going to kill him.

"Corporal, ah—ahhhhh—" Eren cried, and  _no, no, don’t you dare, not right now,_ but then Eren slumped against Levi, boneless and spent, his hip giving two more sloppy and slow grinds before stopping completely, and  _fuck_ , Eren fucked with him again because Levi was still hard.

_Fucking Eren!_

_Damn it!_

Levi sighed heavily as he shove Eren’s body off of him, quickly moving down to undo his pants, groaning in relief when his hands got to his cock, already leaking with precum. He tried to remember Eren’s flushed face and writhing body and Eren’s heat and Eren’s scent as he gave his cock a few stroke, coming to the memory of Eren moaning against his ear.

As Levi lay down on the bed next to Eren, who was deep asleep, basking in the nice warm feeling after an orgasm, he realized this wasn’t as bad as the last time they drunkenly fumbled because at least they both came this time.

Being a designated babysitter wasn’t too bad. It had some perks.

 


	20. Homeward Bound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hurt/Comfort: Eren and Levi revisited Eren's childhood home.

The autumn wind was cooling as winter approached, but no one dared to grumble any complaint as they began working their way through the rubble. The Garrison and a large community of civilians, with the Survey Corp leading the way, were working hard to rebuild the broken pieces of Shiganshina before the winter chill settled in. Levi led his horse through the mossy stones and twisting vines, through the rows of once-tall-and-proud homes made of bricks, now bleeding dust onto the ground. As the wind picked up, the cloud of dust rose, spiraling up the empty road leading to Eren’s childhood home.

Levi got off his horse and walked the rest of the way up, the rusting leaves flying past him sounded like the remaining laughter of children who were still stuck in the past and hadn’t noticed that time had moved on without them. Levi didn’t quite believe that one soldier—Sasha—the one with the strange intuition—when she said that the ghosts still resided here, trapped by regrets, but as he approached the remains of what used to be Eren’s home, Levi thought he could still hear the bustling town that was once alive.

Eren was standing in front of his house, his back to Levi. As Levi approached, he spoke, “I used to spend summer days lying on the porch,” and here he pointed to the worn down steps in front, untouched by the past violence but were still trampled by time. “I would read these strange books with Armin and Mikasa; Mikasa didn’t really care for the outside world, but I really liked it when Armin read those books out-loud like they were stories.”

"Mom would come out and scold me for skipping out on chores," Eren continued as Levi reached his side. "But it was hot, and there was a nice breeze on the porch since our house was so high up…"

"In the winter we’ll be inside, but Dad wouldn’t be home that often…"

Eren trailed off, and Levi could see it, a younger Eren and Mikasa sitting at the dinner table with a shadow of a woman, warm candlelight flickering in the dim evening. “Quails were expensive, but we saved up to buy one for winter solstice when Dad was home.”

Eren went to sit on the front porch, and Levi tied his horse against one of the remaining wooden beam of the house next door before joining Eren. Eren’s memories continued to fly out in white wisp in the cool autumn air, and Levi listened to Eren, knowing that Eren needed this right now.

Then, when Eren’s voice became hoarse and the day dimmed slowly into a pale lavender sunset, they sat in silence, watching the empty road stretching out before them, the road that Levi could imagine a younger Eren chasing his friends down everyday, the old memory becoming familiar to Levi even though it wasn’t his.

"Levi! Eren!" Hanji’s voice called out, and Levi and Eren turned to the tiny figure waving at them at the bottom of the hill. "They’re going to pass out the portions for dinner! Let’s go!"

"We’ll be right down!" Levi shouted, and Hanji rode away. He rose to his feet, ready to leave, but Eren caught his arm.

"What is it?"

Eren’s head was down as he avoided Levi’s gaze. “Could we…stay for a while longer?”

Eren’s hand was shaking.

"Yeah," Levi said, sitting back down next to Eren. "Of course."

Eren buried his face against Levi’s shoulder, and Levi did not say anything as Eren’s warm tears soaked into his skin. He wrapped an arm around Eren, as the grief that had been waiting fifteen years for Eren’s return washed over him.

 

***

 

Levi woke up at the sound of a gentle voice. “You both should get going if you don’t want to miss dinner.”

Levi blinked awake, Eren next to him, head against Levi’s chest.

"You both must have been working hard," the woman said kindly, kneeling down the step to look at Eren who was still deep asleep, his eyes red from drying tears. "He has been through a lot."

"He has," Levi said, and as the woman’s eyes softened, he realized why she had looked so familiar even though he had never met her before. She pulled her side ponytail behind her and tucked her bangs behind her ears, and Levi got a better look of a pair of eyes that looked exactly like Eren’s.

"He doesn’t have a home anymore," she said sadly, looking at Eren with such longing that Levi felt his heart twisted. "I can’t do anything for him now."

"He does have a home," Levi said. "With me."

Eren’s mother looked at Levi then, finally noticing Eren’s hand in Levi’s. There was a moment of silence as the implication of Levi’s words hovered in the autumn air, and then Eren’s mother smiled, and Levi was reminded of those moments when Eren’s eyes would met his, and Eren would look away, a rare smile gracing his lips.

"Thank you," she said, reaching a hand out to stroke Eren’s hair one last time. "I’m glad."

Then she was gone, leaving as quickly as she had come, disappeared within the autumn wind.

Levi hoped that she could now rest in peace.

 

***

 

Levi left to grab what remained after dinner and an extra blanket, and Eren was awake when he returned.

"I had a dream," Eren said. "That my mother came back."

"Yeah?" Levi handed Eren his portion of soup and bread, and then he sat down next to Eren, wrapping the blanket around them both.

"Yeah," Eren said, snuggling deeper against Levi. "It was a nice dream."

The road before them was empty, but if Levi listened closely, he could hear the lively sound of an autumn harvest festival, the hanging lanterns lining the street, the laughter and the voices and the faint outlines of the people still dwelling in the warmth of a past untouched. He could hear Eren’s childhood echoing through the stone walls, and for a moment, Levi thought he could see a younger Eren, holding his mother’s hand, walking down the street. They turned back and waved at him, smiling, before disappearing in the midst of orange light.

And then all was quiet once more.

The stars twinkled above them.

 


	21. Pretend Couple AU!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For writing meme on tumblr. Pretend Couple! AU

It honestly started with a joke because Eren didn’t know that sugar daddies existed outside of fiction.

One ill-advised night with too much beer and too little friend intervention later, Eren found himself sitting across a man wearing a neatly pressed suit that probably cost three times the money that Eren barely scraped together to pay his monthly rent.

"So," Eren said as he pretended to know which utensil was used for the salad placed in front of him. "This is my first time—I wasn’t given instruction—"

"It’s the one next to it," said the man—Levi was his name.  _Kind of a pretentious name,_  Eren thought but didn’t want to make the man angry because he wanted at least a free meal from this.

"What?"

"The fork next to the one your hand is on."

"Right," Eren said, locating the right fork at last and proceeded to stuffed food that was too green for his taste into his mouth in a motion that made Levi wrinkled his nose in distaste.

Well, if Levi wasn’t satisfy with him, he could find another escort. Yes,  _escort,_  even though Hanji, the supervisor, had told him it wasn’t  _that_  kind of service.

"You only have to be with me for a few hours a day," Levi said after taking a sip of wine.

"Right, so your boyfriend could see us together and get the hint," said Eren.

"Ex-boyfriend," Levi corrected. Then, frowning, he tapped his collar. "You have something here."

"Where? Oh." Eren wiped off the salad dressing with his thumb and rubbed his hand on his pants to get it off.

"There is a napkin—"

"So all I have to do is pretend to be your significant other on this week long wedding event," Eren said before Levi could finish his sentence. He enjoyed watching the irritation breaking on Levi’s poss, rich, and arrogant face.

"Yes," Levi said. "We don’t even have to be together all the time. You are free to do whatever you want during the day, but we’ll have to be together during evening dinners."

Eren frowned. “What will you be doing when I’m not around?”  _Not fucking your ex-boyfriend, I hope. That man is getting married._

"Working," Levi said. "The food on your plate doesn’t come for free, you know."

It was utterly depressing how the first thing Levi thought about a week get-away was work—no wonder his boyfriend broke up with him—but Eren wasn’t exactly here for life counseling. He was here to make money, and if Levi wanted to bury himself in work in order to get over his heart break, then well, Eren wasn’t going to stop him.

There was a piece of crumb at the corner of Levi’s mouth, and before Levi could use his napkin, Eren reached out and swiped it away with his thumb.

Levi stared at Eren in shock. Eren made of show of licking the crumb from his thumb even though it wasn’t even there anymore.

"Hanji didn’t tell me that this is  _that_  kind of service.”

"It’s not," Eren said, enjoying Levi’s eyes straying to his lips. "But it can be."

 


	22. Pretend Couple! AU Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For writing meme on tumblr. More Pretend Couple!AU

Judging from Levi’s stern expression and intimidating air (probably to compensate for his lack of height, which Eren would never say aloud because he was getting paid $100 an hour), Eren didn’t expect Levi’s ex to literally be a  _tower_  over Levi.

Eren really tried to steady himself as he shook Irvin’s hand, but it was difficult to keep his hand around Levi’s waist when the hand shake had enough force to rip Eren from Levi’s side.

"He seems nicer than your usual taste, Levi," Irvin said, not sparing Eren another glance as he turned to Levi with a challenging look.

Eren felt strangely offended for Levi at Irvin’s comment. Also offended for himself because  _Excuse me, at least he keeps me,_  Eren wanted to say.

"Well, as they say, out with the old, in with the new," Eren said when he felt Levi tensed next to him. The stiff expression didn’t really suit Levi; sure, he would scowl or frown or glare or generally looked unamused with Eren’s antics, but when Levi looked that expressionless, it felt as if he was trying to block things out before they hurt him.

It came up often enough whenever Eren accidentally mentioned Irvin’s name in the past, so Eren remembered.

Eren wasn’t an expert on reading people, but he did know that the look Irvin gave him wasn’t friendly in the least, and he was tempted to say, “Okay, let’s move along now,” except Levi seemed frozen where he was and wouldn’t move when Eren nudged his back.

"Irvin!" A familiar voice shouted from across the room, and Eren blinked.  _Wait, Hanji was their mutual friend?_

However, Eren didn’t have the chance to ponder upon this newly discovered fact because at Hanji’s voice, something in Levi snapped awake.

"We’ll see you later, Irvin," Levi said, and Eren took that cue as a chance to immediately lead Levi away before Irvin could say a word, but unfortunately they weren’t out of hearing distance when Irvin said, "We definitely need to talk, Levi."

"No, you really don’t," Eren huffed under his breath.

Levi stared at him.

"What?" Eren said.

"You’re getting awfully invested in my love life."

Eren tried not to let the panic showed on his face. It wasn’t that he cared a lot about Levi’s and Irvin’s not-relationship thing, but it was more like he didn’t want Levi to mull over Irvin anymore. It was strange sometimes, trying to imagine Levi younger and wilder and in love, gazing at someone like they were everything to him.

Sometimes, Eren would catch that look by accident, when he caught Levi sleeping on the couch, and he would put a blanket over Levi and shut Levi’s laptop for him, and Levi would blink awake, looking comfortable and soft and warm, staring at Eren with an expression that made Eren’s throat went dry.

"Maybe I’m interested," Eren admitted, his heart pounding loudly in his ears, and perhaps his hold on Levi’s waist tightened just a little.

"Maybe you should mind your own business," Levi said coldly.

Eren flinched, and he would have back off if he hadn’t felt how Levi was leaning against him, letting Eren bearing some of his weight.

"If you tell me to back off, I will," said Eren, purposely leaning down to whisper hotly against Levi’s ear.

Levi shivered. “Back off if you want, I won’t force you.”

Eren felt a burning gaze at the back of his neck, and he knew that if he turned around, he would catch Irvin glaring at him.

"I’ll give you two choices," Eren said, the hand on Levi’s back sliding lower and lower. "We could stay here and wait until you have a chance to talk to your ex, or we could go somewhere else and and have more fun."

"What kind of fun?"

"For one, I could show you things that a mouth has a better use for than talking."

Eren got Levi’s complete attention then, and he couldn’t deny the fact that he loved the glazed look on Levi’s face.

Levi licked his lips.

"Let’s go," he said. "I’m sick of talking."

 


	23. Band AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Band AU

Levi takes another sip of coffee. Maybe he could excuse himself, saying something about Irvin wanting him back at the office because he doesn’t want to be here for this conversation.

He has seen Eren’s type before. The ones that are too excited about the future. The ones that are still filled with youthful dreams not yet crushed by reality. Levi watches the exchange between Carla and her son and wonders if he could silently slip away.

As he takes another sip, he almost chokes on his coffee when Carla turns to him and says, “What do you think, Levi? You were in a band back in high school, right?”

Immediately all attention is on Levi. 

"You were?" And now Eren is looking at him with utter respect, where as five second ago he had looked at Levi with a little bit of fear. Apparently playing a little bit of music counts as a heroic act in Eren’s eyes. 

"I did," says Levi.

"What did you play?"

"Bass."

"Cool," Eren nods with approval, and Levi is a bit irked that his coolness has to be affirmed by a teenage boy. 

"I don’t play anymore," says Levi, and Eren’s face falls at that, but he seems undeterred as he asks, "What was the name of your band?"

"You won’t find anything on them," says Levi. "I don’t have anything to say," Levi continues as he turns to Carla, ignoring Eren’s annoyed expression. "He should do whatever he wants as long as he doesn’t regret it." There. That should satisfy everyone. "Even if he’ll be scraping by to live, at least he’ll be happy."

Eren sputters. “It’s not about the money! It’s about making music! Freedom of expression. Freedom from that stupid office job of yours that’s killing you inside right now.”

"Eren," Carla scolds. "Apologize."

"He doesn’t have to," Levi says, then looks at Eren. "Get back to me about freedom later, after you realize that ‘freedom from money’ is crap when you’re trying to get your band started, and after you throws up your guts from too much dog piss bought from the convenient store at the corner of the street to find out later that some asswipes stole all of your bands’ stuff. Then see what you have to say about ‘freedom from money.’"

Eren looks absolutely angry and crushed at the same time. “I thought you of all people would understand.”

"Why?"

"Freedom For The Cynics," Eren says, and Levi’s heart jumps at the familiar name. That small ache is still there, but Levi pushes it down. "That’s your band right?"

Nights spent in the back of the van burying his face in Mike’s disgusting armpit and shoving his feet on Irvin’s face flash through Levi’s mind; Mike wearing down the drums that his father left for him and Irvin strumming his fingers on the guitar that he saved up from a part-time job at the Chinese place down the street because his lawyer of a father didn’t approve; Levi’s aunt gave him the bass guitar that used to belong to his deceased uncle, and that was the first time that someone in Levi’s family had  _noticed;_ Irvin’s singing was shit, and Levi’s was slightly better, but Levi found Hanji in his physics class who actually sounded good. They made Mike’s neighbors very angry with practicing and Hanji’s mother gave them cookies, and on weekends they did small gigs here and there. But then reality settled in.

"Yeah," Levi said. Nostalgia over. Past is gone. "It is. I thought you didn’t know my band—" 

 ”Why did you guys disbanded?” Eren asks. “You guys were doing so well. Your music is fantastic, and I—”

"Life happens," says Levi, not wanting to talk about it. "People come. People go. And it will happen to you too."

"Mikasa and Armin wouldn’t leave me," says Eren. "And the band will be okay. Mikasa’s on drums, and sure, Armin doesn’t play an instrument, but he knows how to organize stuff together and—"

"Your band consists of two people?" Levi says.

"Three," Eren says firmly. "Armin is a part of the band."

"Alright."

"You still don’t think we can do it," Eren frowns. "I mean, I’m still looking for a person on bass, but—"

"You can do whatever you want," Levi says. "In the end, it’s your choice. Not mine."

"You should check out my band," Eren says firmly,  _and when does it lead to this? “_ Wings of Freedom. We have a couple of videos on Youtube.”

"I see," Levi says and takes another sip of coffee, still very unimpressed by what Eren has to offer. He honestly doesn’t care about music anymore, and he has no interest in a brat with too much hope and positivity about life that it’s suffocating to be in the same room as him.

"I know adults like to feed me random shit about ‘life is tough’," Eren says. "And I’m supposed to think about realistic goals, but this is my realistic goal. Other people are good at school and going to college or something, but I’m not. I only have my music. I’m not good at anything else, so this is my reality."

Levi doesn’t have anything to say to that. Even Carla is silent.

"I just—" and then there is this heartbroken on Eren’s face that mirrors Levi’s back when he knew that everyone in his band was going to leave him, and he would have nothing left. "Please take a look at my music." 

"I’m not an agent," Levi says. "You won’t gain anything from me looking at your music."

"I want you to listen to it," says Eren. "Even if you think it’s lame. I want you to at least know of it, I guess." He looks away from Levi. "I’m not trying to gain anything from it."

There once were days when Levi was content with just one person patting his shoulder, “That was good, man,” even though that stranger might not even remember which song from the concert was by Levi’s band. But Levi didn’t do it for the recognition. Even though recognition was nice, there was something special about jamming to the radio as they all crammed in Hanji’s van to head to the next gig, something magical about the overwhelming bright light on stage and the worn-out wood underneath his sneakers, the overheated room, hot air filled with sweat and cigarettes, the music and the crowds swirling in his ears, his heart screaming in his chest until it was over, and Levi was panting as if he had ran a marathon, and then he had felt as if he had reached that bright light, a strange peace settling in his skin.

Levi looks at Eren, and remembers who he used to be.

"I’m not making any promises," says Levi.

***

Levi says that he isn’t going to do it, but when he gets home, instead of working on his next project, he finds himself typing “Wings of Freedom” in the Youtube search bar.

Eren is terrible.

Well, actually, Eren isn’t too bad, but he needs a lot of work. Mikasa seems to be on a league of her own, and Eren looks like he is barely keeping up, and they’re completely out of sync.

This is horrible.

Levi is about to exit Youtube and leave the Eren issue behind completely when one of Eren’s video catches his eyes. He clicks on it immediately without thinking, heart clenching tight with the name of the familiar song.

 _"Hey guys,"_  Eren’s voice floats through Levi’s ear pieces.  _"This is officially Wings of Freedom’s first video, and we want to do a cover of our favorite song."_

_"It’s ‘End of Adulthood, Beginning of Youth’ by Freedom For The Cynics. Definitely check those guys out because they have fantastic music."_

_"Personally, this song means a lot to me because I’ve been feeling really small and insignificant in life, but this song makes me realize that this is only the beginning of something even better."_ Eren laughs nervously, his wide eyes darting to the corner, and Levi feels his chest becoming tight at the sight.  _”Because the thing about growing up is that I’m scared to do everything, but I really want to get childish courage to go after things I want, you know? I don’t want to be small anymore.”_

_"So yeah, this cover is dedicated to Freedom For The Cynics. They probably won’t even find this video, but I’d like to think that some day they will find out how much their music meant to me."_

Levi takes a deep breath and let Eren’s inexperienced but powerful voice warms his mind. Eren and Mikasa are out of sync again, but he is struck with the memory of when his band first practiced this song, how they were terrible but it didn’t matter because they needed those lyrics, needed that song to pushed them forward, and it didn’t matter how good it was because it was the song that they needed to play.

Levi loops through Eren’s video over and over again, slowly remembering the feeling of string vibrations underneath his hand.

***

"I’m sorry," Eren says.

"Why?" Levi asks as he waits for his order of coffee. Levi has asked to meet Eren specifically this time, and he knows that Carla wants him to "talk some sense into Eren."

"Mom says I have to apologize for last time," says Eren.

"That’s no apology," says Levi.

"You could take it or leave it," Eren mumbles under his breath,  _the insolent brat._

"Then I am also sorry," Levi says, in a tone that implies he isn’t sorry in the least. Now they are even. "But that’s not what I want to talk to you about today."

"I’m looking at the career sheets like I’m supposed to," Eren sighs. 

"I’ve seen your band’s videos."

"Wait," Eren jumps into Levi’s vision. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"What do you think?"

"You guys suck."

"Hey!"

"You look like you wanted to strangle your guitar," Levi continues, ignoring Eren’s angry face. "Your fingering is sloppy, and your voice needs work. Or you need to get a vocalist."

Eren looks like he is about to go on a defending rant, except Levi cuts him off with, “But I could show you how to properly handle a guitar. Don’t know if that would help though.”

The smile that breaks on Eren’s face makes Levi considers the thought of maybe smiling, but he doesn’t. “Really? You mean it?”

"Why not?" Levi says. "I do want to save that poor guitar of yours."

Suddenly, an idea seems to come to Eren’s mind because he says, “You can be our bass guitar!”

Levi glares. “I’m not playing with brats a decade younger than me.”

"You should consider it," says Eren. "I’m just trying to save your guitar."

"What makes you think I haven’t sold it?" Levi asks, already thinking of the case underneath his bed that he opened every night, just to check on the conditions of the guitar. 

"Just a feeling." Eren shrugs. "Am I right?"

"Yeah," Levi says.

"I also have a feeling that you’ll be our bass." Eren grins, and Levi feels something strange twitching inside his chest.

Eren has a stupid grin. It’s really stupid.

"Don’t count on it." Levi looks away before his feelings become too complicated.

"You said the same thing when I ask you to watch the videos," Eren points out gleefully, and Levi frowns in irritation even though he really doesn’t feel irritated.

Because a deepest part within him knows that Eren is right. 

 


	24. Nice to meet you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For pickletea's prompt: 
> 
> "One day Levi doesn’t come home. It takes a day and a half for Eren to find him sitting alone on the other side of the city. Eren notes the momentary stiffness in Levi’s shoulders and his furrowed brows when Eren pulls him into a hug and knows that for a second, Levi doesn’t recognize him. 
> 
> It breaks his heart all the more when Levi later admits to having forgotten how to return home."

 

 

 

The first time it happened, Eren got a text from Levi. “I’m on the west side of town, where the laundromats are.”

Eren paused. He’d just started dinner and was waiting for Levi to bring home the much needed basil. Levi had only been gone for thirty minutes, and Eren assumed that it would take him longer to get back because of traffic.

“Why?” Eren texted back.

“I don’t remember. I’ll see you in twenty min” was Levi’s reply.

Levi didn’t come home until an hour later.

 

 

 

 

Many things happened between then and the second time it happened. Small things like forgetting where the keys were, where the chestnuts were kept, where the vintage copy of “A Tale of Two Cities” that Eren’s father had gotten him for Christmas was, and…

“You alright?” Eren asked, looking curiously at Levi who was sitting at the bottom of the stairs, the vacuum cleaner next to him, still plugged in the electric socket but Levi wasn’t using it.

Levi looked up at Eren, looked momentarily confused, but then the confusion cleared up as quickly as it had come. He got back to his feet. “I have to clean.”

“Okay,” Eren said, not quite sure what was going on, but then he left to go on about his day.

 

 

 

 

The second time it happened was Christmas. Eren’s shift ran late, and by the time he rushed home, almost every store was closed. That was what he got for procrastinating on shopping for gifts. He came back, panting from running when he hadn’t gone to the gym since forever, with the box of cake from the Asian bakery.

But Levi wasn’t home.

Eren frowned. He knew that Levi was off for the week, and it was his turn to make dinner. But the vegetables remained uncleaned and untouched in a colander on the counter, and the defrosted meat was in the sink with Levi nowhere to be found.

The backdoor from the kitchen that opened up to the yard was wide open. Levi wasn’t in the backyard. He wasn’t downstairs. He wasn’t upstairs. He wasn’t anywhere.

Eren called his phone.

Levi didn’t pick up the first two times, but he did the third time.

“Where are you?”

There was a pause.

“Levi?”

No answer.

“Levi, are you alright?”

Levi answered then. “Yeah. I’m at the grocery store on Beckman.”

That was a good fifteen minute drive from here, and Levi didn’t take the car. “What are you doing there?”

Another pause.

“Levi?”

“Can you pick me up?”

“Yeah, of course.”

When they got home, Eren had to remind Levi that it was his birthday because Levi wouldn’t stop giving the cake on the table, completed with curly chocolate “Happy Birthday,” a blank stare of confusion.  

 

 

 

 

There were things in the beginning and things in the middle.

Eren didn’t really remember because all he could think about was Levi’s pale face when the doctor explained it to them.

Things were very quiet after that.

But then sometimes, things were loud.

Eren did remember rushing downstairs when he heard a loud banging of fists against metal. He ran into the laundry room to see Levi smacking his fists against the washing machine.

“Hey.” Eren jumped to Levi’s side and gently touched Levi’s elbows. “Hey, it’s alright. Everything’s fine.”

Levi’s fists slowed to a stop. “No, it’s not.” Eren couldn’t see his face, but he could hear Levi’s voice cracking. “I don’t remember how to use this.”

The cold blue numbers flashed on the small digital screen. Eren looked away and took Levi by the shoulders. “Come on. I’ll do it later. It’s not important.”

Levi let Eren led him back into their bedroom.

Eren didn’t tell Levi not to be scared because he was scared himself.

 

 

 

 

Eren had lost count of how many times it happened. One day, Petra called him and said that Levi didn’t show up at work, and Levi wouldn’t answer his calls at all. Eren dropped everything and went out to find him.

It was half a day before Eren did. Levi was standing by a crosswalk’s light next to a Starbucks situated right at a corner of the street. He didn’t turn when Eren shouted his name.

“Levi!” Eren called out again, pushing through the late afternoon crowd. “Levi. Hey, what are you doing?”

Levi turned to look at him, and then he frowned. Something inside Eren was slowly cracking at the edges, and suddenly, he knew. Eren had known, but it was that moment when Levi looked at him with eyes that he would give a stranger that Eren truly knew.

“Hey,” Eren said, his voice barely an audible whisper. “It’s Eren.”

“Eren,” Levi repeated to himself. Then, his brows furrowed. “Eren.” It took another minute, and then Levi’s face cleared, all the confusion melted away. “Eren.”

“Yeah.” Eren pulled him into a hug, feeling like he wanted to cry but couldn’t. “It’s Eren.”

 

 

 

 

It unintentionally became a game whether Eren could find Levi or not. Some days it only took a few hours. Some days it took more.

Today, it was a library. It took a day and a half. Levi looked tired and worn out from sleeping in the bathroom.

“We can’t do this anymore,” Levi said in a whisper, eyeing the worn out books lining on the shelves all around them. A student studying in a corner gave them a dirty look, but Eren ignored her.

“I will always find you,” Eren promised. There was something familiar about these words. They felt right.

Levi shook his head, but Eren tightened his grip around Levi’s hand.

“One day, I’m going to completely forget who you are. What then?”

Eren looked into Levi’s eyes and saw the things that he was too afraid to voice out. There was a selfish voice in his head, one full of anger and disappointment and hurt and fear. One that he saw reflected in the mirror every day, and today on Levi’s face.

Eren squeezed Levi’s hands. “Then I will say “Hello. I’m Eren. Nice to meet you.””

“You’re an idiot.”

Eren grinned. “Let’s go home.”

 

 

 

 

"I forgot how to return home."

"I didn’t notice."

Levi gave him a look. Apparently this was a bad time to make light of the situation. Eren shrugged.

"I’ll go with you. Every step of the way."

 

 

 

 

Saturday morning Eren woke up to an empty bed. He carefully fluffed the pillows and pulled the sheets back to where they were. He brushed his teeth. He washed his face. He got dressed.

Eren checked the closet for what article of clothing was missing.

When he got out to the street, Mrs. Taylor was walking her dog. She wished him a good morning and asked him how he was. Eren said that he was going to meet his husband for breakfast and complimented her on the tulips she had planned for this season. Mrs. Taylor saw the extra jacket that Eren had in his hand and said that it was quite warm for double jacket.

Eren said that Levi forgot his jacket this morning, and he was just bringing it to him. Levi didn’t get sick often, but it wouldn’t be nice to catch a cold.

Mrs. Taylor smiled and wished him a good day. Eren wished her and her dog a good day as well.

It took Eren two hours this time. Levi was sitting at a bus stop, staring listlessly at the cars passing by. Buses came and went, but Levi didn’t get on. As Eren expected, Levi forgot to bring a jacket along.

“Good morning,” Eren said as he approached Levi. “How are you?”

Levi turned to look at Eren with eyes that had forgotten who he was. But those eyes were curious. “Good. You?”

“Good.”

Eren sat down next to Levi. A gush of wind rushed by, a spring breeze with a hint of coolness lingering in the air from winter. Levi shivered.

“Here,” Eren handed Levi the jacket. “It’s pretty cold.”

“I can’t accept that.”

“It’s okay. You can keep it until I have to leave.”

“Thanks. “ Levi looked at Eren, eyes unfamiliar but warm. “Sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

Eren shook Levi’s hand after Levi put on the jacket.

“I’m Eren. Nice to meet you.”

 

 

 


	25. Inception AU Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inception AU.

When people had his kind of money they tend to go all out on their vacation, and in his younger days he wouldn’t mind hitting the Venetian Macao, but as it was Levi was reaching the age where a solid cover was more important than wild nights that drained his money faster than he could make them. Occasionally he would hit some of the more visible joints for work rather than for vacation, but the last job in Shanghai took a lot out of him. He had firmly told Erwin that he would be on vacation, starting now, and if anyone came to him for a job, would Erwin please tell them to fuck off.

Levi was lying low in one of those cities too small for newcomers to blend in, but big enough that people didn’t ask unwanted questions. A military base was nearby, and because of it no one gave Levi a second look, assuming that he was one of the many Marines that occasionally leave base to enjoy a day out in town. 

Levi was thoroughly enjoying his vacation with his worn out straw hat, having a slow day with no catch yet, the salty sour smell of fish guts wafted all around him when he caught a figure striding down the pier toward him. 

An extractor, Levi thought. Not forger, he wasn’t good enough at blending in for that. Possibly an architect. Low chance of point man.  

Levi sighed, making a note to kill Erwin later. He was on vacation, for fuck’s sake. The wound on his left thigh still felt tender.

“What do you want?” Levi cut to the chase, not letting the–Fuck, how old was his kid?–kid began their conversation with useless pleasantries. “I’m on vacation.” Fuck off.

“Mr. Smith said you would take this job,” the kid said, shock still evident from his face. He probably thought Levi wouldn’t be so straightforward.

“Well he was wrong.” Levi began to pack up his things. Suddenly, his day turned sour, and the stink of the fish was becoming unbearable. It was getting late anyway. The pier nearly emptied out as people leave for dinner. “Go tell your team leader that I’m busy.”

“I am the one leading this job,” the boy said, and that got Levi’s attention. Him? That young? It was then that Levi took note of the bright green eyes, eager and determined and powerful despite the rounded baby cheeks of his face.    

Levi was intrigued despite himself. “You think you can afford me?”

“You won’t be in this job for the money,” the boy said, and Levi raised his brow at the arrogant tone. 

“I think we’re wasting both of our time here–”

“You ever heard of a Kenny Ackerman?”

Levi nearly dropped his bucket, but years of underground work on top of military service had him regained his composure easily. That name. Aside from Kenny’s cronies, he didn’t think he would hear it again from people that weren’t going to have a bullet in their head within the next week of learning it. Or worse, become nothing but shells as their mind dropped into limbo or wiped clean of all their memories since birth. 

The one exception of course, was him. And apparently, this boy in front of him.

“You have my attention,” said Levi.

“Eren Yeager,” Eren introduced himself.

A flicker of memory flashed through Levi’s mind. A husband and wife, both researchers of the PASIV. Grisha and Carla. He knew them when he was stationed in Darmstadt. He didn’t know if they had a son. Last he’d heard of them, they had disappeared, and judging by what they were working on, he wasn’t surprised. 

“Levi,” he said. “Let’s go somewhere more private so we can talk.”


	26. Inception AU Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inception AU

“What the fuck, Erwin?” was the first thing Levi said to Erwin. 

“I thought you’ll be interested,” said Erwin. Levi could hear the muffled sound of typing over the phone. “Did you hear what he had to say?”

“It’s a fucking trap, that’s what this is,” Levi hissed. “Kenny Ackerman doesn’t leave traces, and he sure as hell doesn’t leave behind survivors.” It was too unbelievable of a story. If Kenny Ackerman decided that he was to wipe out the Yeagers after he took their research, then that was what happened. Their bodies won’t be found. But here Eren was, completely unharmed and grew up to adulthood without a problem. 

“But he spared you,” Erwin pointed out. 

Levi grew silent. Erwin had no idea. No one had any idea. No one knew what Kenny and Levi were to each other. “He thinks that I’m dead,” Levi decided to say. “There was a body that was supposed to be me in the Pacific Ocean right now.” A rotting corpse floating along with the garbage patch in the water.

“Maybe Eren’s a survivor like you.”

Levi gritted his teeth. No, Eren wasn’t. There was something strange about Eren, something that didn’t add up. Pure instinct, one honed by years under Kenny, told him that there was more to the story that Eren wasn’t sharing. 

“I don’t trust him,” Levi said.

“I don’t either,” Erwin admitted. A pause, then, “How badly do you want to dig this up?”

“You’re the one who want to dig it up,” Levi accused. He just wanted to avoid Kenny if possible. He had gotten away once. He didn’t know if he could a second time. 

“There are other ways to get information that doesn’t involve going after Kenny.”

Levi tightened his grip on the phone. “You mean–”

“Eren is holding information that we want.”

“Fuck, we can’t do extraction on him, Erwin,” Levi all but growled into the phone. That was fucked up. Eren wasn’t on Kenny’s side, which meant he was at least on a side closer to theirs. Even if Levi suspected that Eren might unknowingly be a pawn by Kenny to lure them into a trap, it wasn’t on purpose–but– “I’m telling you, Erwin. Drop it. Kenny’s not worth it.”

He should know. 

Erwin was silent for a long time.“You can’t hide from him forever.”

“Well I’m going to die trying.”

“I want to stop him, Levi.”

Levi rubbed the bridge of his nose. 

“It’s only a matter of time before he reaches us, Levi. People are already disappearing.”

“I know,” Levi sighed. Whatever Kenny was working on, he was targeting the people who made their money on dream sharing first. Levi would have had a guess of what it was had Kenny not wipe his memories of it. He could still feel the hollowness now where they used to be, gaps in between years of training his subconscious.

He’d considered asking Erwin to extract from him once, but decided against it.

“I’ll think about it,” Levi said at last. He brushed his finger over the paper with Eren’s number written neatly on it, hating himself for wanting to dig up things that he might not want to remember.  


	27. Inception AU Part III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inception AU

The afternoon light was warm on his skin as they weaved through the crowd; Levi tried not to show how impressed he was as his eyes skimmed every detail of the streets, stores upon stores squeezed against each other with each block they passed.

Even the street noise–the shuffling of people, the shouting of a man in week-staled clothes holding a sign “Judgement is coming,” the irritated honking of a car when the one in front of it didn’t flash the turning light–everything was pitch perfect. The faded “Raputin music” on the store front, music blaring from the H&M…Eren made the bare framework of the dream came alive, and Levi could almost imagine that he was in Union Square if he wasn’t thumbing at the totem in his pocket.

“Not bad,” Levi said as they reached a street corner. “You got quite the eye for details.”

Eren grinned. “This is barely half of what I can do.”

“I would hope so,” Levi said, lest Eren was getting too full of himself. “Recreating from memory shouldn’t be difficult. And by the way, you’re not supposed to do that.”

“I’m not recreating from memory.” Eren looked offended. “I took whatever information Smith gave me and created the rest.”

That was quite impressive. This San Francisco could almost fool Levi into believing it was the real deal. “I think we might have some use of you yet.”

“Do you guys avoid working with architects then?” Eren asked as the street light flashed for them to cross. “I’ve heard rumors that you and Erwin usually just run two man operations.”

“They’re not rumors,” Levi said. “Erwin and I don’t trust anyone else besides ourselves, and even then it’s not a 100% trust.” Levi didn’t want anyone in his head saved for Erwin, and Erwin didn’t trust anyone but Levi not to snoop.

“But you trust me,” Eren said.

Levi stopped in his track as they reached the other side of the street. He turned to Eren.

“No,” said Levi. “We don’t. But we know that you’re on our side, and that’s enough." 

Levi resumed his strides, letting Eren struggle to catch up as the wave of people on the street began to wash him from Levi’s side. "So you’ll help me? To go after Kenny?”

“What do you want from Kenny, Eren?”

Eren caught up to him then, but he didn’t answer at first.  

“I need to know if we want the same thing,” Levi said sharply. They hadn’t had the chance to interrogate, and judging from the haunted looks on Eren’s face at times, Levi suspected that he might not even want to pry. But enough was enough. If they were going to be in each other’s head, Levi needed more than what Eren was giving him.

They stopped at a set of table and chairs out in a sunlight courtyard, Levi casually taking a seat and Eren followed. He patiently waited for Eren to gather his wits.

“Levi, what do you know about inception?”

Levi raised an eyebrow. “I know that there is only one successful attempt ever done, and that costed two members of a team lost in limbo. One of which was one of the most skilled extractors in the world.”

Eren nodded. “So you know that mind manipulation is possible.”

Levi stiffened. “It sounds like it’s a possibility.”

“Then do you think,” Eren paused, licking his dry lips. Levi couldn’t help but stare; it was incredibly distracting, “that wiping of memories is possible?”

Levi felt a chill trickle down his back. “What do you mean?”

“A very important thing was taken from me,” Eren said. “My memories were stolen, lock away in the deep recess of my mind, and someone took the key.”

“That’s not possible.” Levi tried to keep his voice even. “Once you lose it, the memory is lost forever.” A sharp pain shot up his chest.

It was ridiculous. Levi didn’t mourn. He didn’t look back. But yet here he was, looking at Eren with hope and longing. If those memories weren’t lost–

No. He couldn’t live like this.  

“It is possible,” Eren said. “I’ve seen the door. I’ve seen the lock where the key would fit. I have one memory left of my father–it’s a weak one–but I remember him telling me not to lose that key, that I have to go to the basement–” He paused for breath. “I know my memories are out there, and I want them back.”


	28. The Tea Cup

“How many?" 

Levi couldn’t hear Eren at first. He took another sip of tea; his hands were steady, but for an unfathomable reason, the cup slipped from his fingers. Levi almost lost his balance on his chair trying to catch it on instinct– _he always did try to catch them_ –but the cup hit the floor just as the caught the rim between two fingers. 

"How many?” Eren’s voice was shaking. Levi couldn’t pretend not to hear him anymore.

“All of them,” Levi said. “They’re all gone.” The entire squad.

The handle, despite Levi’s attempt to never touch it, to protect it from his own hands, cracked from the cup. It fell with a  _clink_  on the floor.

The sound was enough to break Eren from his trance. He looked at Levi from across the table at last. 

Levi didn’t meet his eyes.

“It–” Eren swallowed. He sounded almost desperate, and Levi hated it.“Even if it’s broken, it can be fixed. Put it back together and it still works.”

Levi picked up the handle from the floor. His eyes flickered to the rubbish bin in a corner.

“Wait–”

The handle went first, curving into the air and straight into the trash where it belonged. Levi finished up the tea, and the cup soon followed after. It shattered once it hit the bottom of the bin.

Levi saw Eren winced from the corner of his vision. 

“You can’t do that with people,” Levi said and rose to his feet. “Let’s go.”

Eren didn’t follow him at first. It was the first time that Levi saw him hesitate. 

But then Eren stood from the table, the guilt and grief quickly sunk behind his eyes and faded behind the fury of purpose humming through his entire body. It was as if Levi was looking into a mirror. Eren’s acceptance of the monster within himself was like Levi’s own, long ago.

“I guess you really can’t do that with people." 


	29. Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time travel AU that I want to write

The iron bars are familiar and unfamiliar at once. Eren remembers sitting behind an older version of them a long time ago, and it’s a surreal experience as a younger version of Captain Levi stares at him from across the cell. It’s different this time though. They didn’t handcuffed him, and Commander Erwin isn’t here. To everyone, Eren is just an imposter charged with a simple fake identity crime. 

Captain Levi–no–just Levi now. He is not captain yet. Levi is leaning against the back wall, looking bored as he speaks. “There’s no record of an Eren Yeager in the south eastern village of Wall Maria. However, there is a Grisha Yeager and a Carla Yeager, but neither knows anyone named Eren.”

Levi detaches himself from the wall and approaches the cell slowly. Eren unconsciously scoots back until his heels hit the bed as Levi curls his hand around an iron bar and stares him down. 

“Who are you?”

Eren swallows, wondering if this is the right time to reveal himself. This is Levi, but this Levi is different from the Levi he knew, rough, young, and not yet weathered by the deaths of his closest comrades. 

“It’s not looking good for you,” says Levi. “The south eastern village of Wall Maria–” He pauses, as if carefully choosing not to reveal too much. “Isn’t on the Military Police’s list of favorite places now. There is suspicion that you’re a spy. But you already know that.”

“Why do you want to talk to me?” Levi asks. “This is the Military Police’s shit to deal with. Why me?" 

This is it. This is what Eren hopes for, to talk to Levi. Not in this sort of setting, but he has to work with what he got.

"What the hell did you bride the pigs with for them to let you talk to me anyway?”

Eren chooses not to answer that question. He takes a deep breath, calms his anxiety, and begins to speak.

“Thirteen years from now, Wall Maria will fall, and humanity will received a grim reminder that we are nothing but cattle. Thirteen years from now, humanity will face the most devastating loss of territory and people it has ever known since before mankind first sailed to the new world." 

Levi frowns, and Eren knows that he has gotten his attention.

"Twenty years from now, Wall Rose will fall. Twenty-two years from now, ninety percent of the human population will perish, and Wall Sina will collapse within itself.”

Eren swallows. Each word is more difficult to voice aloud than he originally thought. He thinks about the faces of the people who were lost and forces himself to continue.

“Twenty-two years from now, the last of the Survey Corp will head out on their last mission to save humanity. Twenty-six years from now, only one person will make it to the final destination, a basement in the ruins of Shiganshina. There, he will find something that allows him to travel back into time and undo mankind’s mistakes.”

“That person’s name.” Eren lets out a sharp breath. “Is Eren Yeager. In about a year from now, a boy will be born in Shiganshina from Carla and Grisha Yeager." 

"His name will be Eren Yeager.”

There is a moment of dead silence as Eren meets Levi’s unwavering gaze. Levi slowly uncurls his hand from the iron bar.

“You expect me to believe all of that?”

“No,” says Eren. “I don’t. I don’t know if I will succeed, but this is my last chance to save humanity and change the fates of the many lives that were lost.”

Levi crosses his arms, his brows quirk with the familiar expression of skepticism that Eren painfully remembers from the past. “Why me?" 

"Captain Levi of the Survey Corp was the last person to stay with me until the very end, before he died. He was my mentor until his last breath. I trust him more than anyone else.”

“I’m not the person that you think I am.”

“No,” Eren says. That, he is certain of. The Levi in front of him is no where close to the captain he knew. “But you will be.”  


End file.
